Dear Morningside Center friends,

We are heartbroken by the loss of our beloved friend and colleague, Edwin Figueroa. Edwin, a long-time Morningside Center staff developer, passed away earlier this month from Covid.

Last week, our staff shared our grief over losing Edwin, and our joy to have known him. Many spoke about how Edwin exuded kindness, warmth, and concern, every day - and about his decades of service to make schools, communities and the world a better place. An equitable place.

"Edwin showed what love looks and feels like in action," said our staff member Daniel Coles. Our staff developer Nelida Espina, who worked closely with Edwin, said, “Your light will last an eternity. Blessed Edwin TE AMO!”

Music can be healing, uplifting, and calming for both adults and children. In these lessons, young people experience how we can use music to care for ourselves during times of stress - including through movement, dancing, sing-alongs, and homegrown choirs.

Check out our growing Covid Crisis Support lesson series. Also, see Self-Care for Educators & Caregivers.

Listen to the poem Sometimes, and reflect on it with your students.

We Might Have Gotten Remote Learning Wrong. We Can Still Fix This School Year.

"What occurs in the final weeks of our school year will have a huge influence on how students feel about—and make future decisions related to—learning and schooling, and we should do everything possible to ensure that they carry a positive feeling forward." By Larry Ferlazzo at EdWeek Teacher

"Schools will likely also need to increase investments to meet the social, emotional, and mental health needs of their students who will be struggling with the stress and trauma of this pandemic and who have been largely isolated from their peers and other adult support systems for some time." By Michael Griffith at the Learning Policy Institute

"The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others." By Adam Serwer at The Atlantic

"The big takeaway is that high-poverty districts are getting disproportionately impacted by the covid crisis..." By Matt Barnum and Reema Amin at Chalkbeat

"The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow that seemed hard frozen."

 - From the poem Sometimes